Tech

Uber's new app will predict where you're going

The ride hailing company began rolling out a redesigned version of its main app Wednesday. It has a simplified interface and a News Feed-like stream that surfaces personalized information, like Yelp recommendations, while you're on a ride. The app also has new predictive capabilities that can guess your destination before you type it in.

While some users will get the update sooner than others, everyone should have it in the next few weeks.

Riders will first notice that the app adds three address shortcuts to its new minimalist home screen: your home and work address (if you have them set in the app) as well as a third address it predicts for you.

This could be based on your previous habits — if you frequently head to the gym after work, for instance — or it could be generated from your phone's calendar, which you can now link to the app. If you do, the app will automatically fill in the address of your next appointment when you open it. (At launch, this will only work with your device's default calendar, but Uber says it will let you choose calendars from alternative apps in a future update.)

This is just one way that Uber is moving toward a much more personalized experience. There are simpler features as well, like the removal of the slider control, which let you switch between different services like carpooling or Uber XL. Instead, the app defaults to the type of service you use most frequently, but you can swipe over for more options.

Image: Uber

Design changes like this were necessary from a practical level, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said at a press event in San Francisco Tuesday, but they also help make the app faster and easier to use. Until now, the core elements of Uber's app hadn't changed much since its last redesign in 2012, and Kalanick said that was becoming increasingly problematic as the app's offerings grew more complex.

"We needed a new system to deal with the growing set of features that were piling up on an older design," Kalanick said. "Being predictive and personalized in how you experience Uber is really important."

Once a ride has started, the app will have a News Feed-like "On Trip" view that allows you to access services that might be useful while you're in the car. Some of these, like Pandora controls and Uber Eats ordering, are holdovers from Uber's previous app, but the company is also building new tie-ins with other apps and services.

The service is also playing nice with other apps. There are new Snapchat geofilters showing your current ETA that you can unlock from within Uber. An integration with Yelp allows you to check out reviews on your way to a restaurant, and you can also browse Foursquare tips if you need more inspiration about what to do.

The company is also working on adding in more contextual information that could be useful to your day. If you're headed to a train station, for instance, the app will eventually be able to surface schedules for the next train. The company says this could also expand to include news headlines, weather forecasts and other details that may be relevant to your current trip.

You'll be able to open Uber and set a specific friend as your destination

But of all the features that Uber is now previewing, the most telling is one Kalanick called "people are the new places." The upcoming feature allows you to open Uber and set a specific friend as your destination. Uber will then ping your friend for permission to use their location and — assuming they grant it — direct the driver to them.

Whether you find this extraordinarily convenient or sort of creepy likely depends on your opinion of Uber. (Kalanick says it's part of the company's mission to help you "feel like you're living in the future.")

But it also provides perhaps the clearest view yet of where the company is heading and how it's thinking about artificial intelligence. Though much of its predictions are fairly basic for now, it's not hard to imagine that, in the future, Uber could train its app to take on even more of an assistive role. It doesn't seem like a big leap to imagine the app could eventually see appointments on your calendar and schedule all your rides ahead of time, for example.

Predictive powers like that may still be far off, but the new app lays a lot of groundwork toward that future.

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